Experience Points: Why Is Skyrim So Addictive? [Column]

This week’s column takes a turn to my own area of interest, aside from reviewing games and talking about them. I enjoy analysing game design choices made by developers. I always pose questions of design choices innate to a videogame’s structure to myself, in the proposition that I could come up with something more revolutionary. I chop and change the nuances of predictable gameplay mechanics we’ve become accustomed to, and generally fail. Obviously, I think of myself too highly and of course I am awesome. This is absolute much like how Skyrim is absolute in being the pinnacle of contemporary open world RPGs. This may be a ‘big’ statement, but Skyrim ticks all the boxes and may be the best open world RPG on the market. I will justify this by showing you exactly why Skyrim is a great game, and ultimately why it’s addictive.

Reviews for Skyrim have so far been stellar, as Cavie’s review supports, and it’s hard to deny the addictiveness of the game. The pull factor of the game is nothing to gloat about and dominated much of my week (with work ashamedly becoming a lesser concern, and writing this column even more so). Skyrim is all about total immersion in a fantasy world where dragons freely roam the skies, dungeons are abundantly reaming with peril and loot, magic is commonplace and the land is a giant expanse of mystery and intrigue (translating into copious, and infinite, amounts of side quests). The juxtaposition of your character against the backdrop of an expansive fantasy world where everything is open to exploration is a Pandora’s Box of untold time wasting love. Skyrim operates in such a way that it fosters this type of deeper involvement on the part of the player transcending pure entertainment value. But how does Skyrim achieve such flights of fancies?

When attempting to understand the broad game design structure of a videogame like Skyrim it is important to understand the two primary trends in which videogames are studied and analysed (by academics, journalists and reviewers alike). In Game Studies (the study of videogames) the two primary trends of analysis for videogames are: narratology (the study of narrative) and ludology (the study of play). Narratology argues that videogames can be understood as narratives and analysed within said framework, and many gaming journalists take on this perspective in their reviews of videogames. Ludology, on the other hand, counters this by stating that videogames are not a conventional medium, and that they should be viewed as an activity likened to a form of playtime or a sport.

Ludology is an interesting method of assessment because it addresses the prominent feature of videogames which is “interactivity”. Interactivity in videogames configures the interface of the ‘virtual’ experience of the videogame into a ‘real’ and social experience. Relative to this is where the immersion factor of an open world RPG like Skyrim preoccupies the headspace of the avid gamer, and time itself becomes irrelevant. However, it would be ineffective of me not to point out that this might not be the general experience of Skyrim for all, but more of my own. Yet I can attest that my general of experience of Skyrim has been undoubtedly immersive to the point where nearly a whole weekend was lost to the game. The overall picture I’ve received from talking to a number of gamers playing Skyrim has cast a similar situation in the limelight. Escapism is part of Skyrim’s addictive quality but arguably it ascends further.

Within ludology, play (gameplay when applied to videogames) can be categorised into two distinct kinds: ludus and paidia. Ludus is generally rule-based games (such as Chess) and often has clear results with either a winner or loser. Paidia can be characterised as play which is open-ended, spontaneous and creative with no clear objective. As a result, Skyrim effectively fits between both ludus and paidia and with its open world nature exactly pinpointing the gameplay experience within such a spectrum is a difficult task.

When Skyrim was released gamers already understood the implications for their social life (if they have one). The act of playing and immersing yourself in the world of Skyrim meant stepping out of everyday ordinary life commitments for the sake of the fantasy world of Skyrim, and all its wonders. I argue that the main characteristics of Skyrim’s gameplay are that it’s voluntary and freely entered into as a source of entertainment, and never imposed on the player. There’s no imposition of class structure, of an apparent play structure (your view isn’t restricted to only the third person or first person perspective) and side quests are just as fulfilling as the main quest. Therefore there is no fixed goal in the game, the experience is open-ended favouring spontaneity and creativity on the part of the gamer. Yet Skyrim still is rule-based at the same time as evidenced by the fact that in the land of Skyrim taking on a giant at a low level results in a one way flight to Whiterun.

However, although you may be stepping out of ordinary everyday life into the temporary sphere of activity in Skyrim’s game world there are still basic rules informed by a basic levelling structure (which is simultaneously very fluid improving stats of skills you consistently utilise) and enemy balancing (with higher level enemies bashing your skull in) which creates an order of structure in the game. This structure exists without sacrificing the immersive freedom Skyrim offers. That balance is key to ‘why’ Skyrim is addictive. Combining elements of both paidia and ludus in the game’s design offers the best of both worlds. Bethesda having taken heeds of the cumbersome limitations of rigid classes and combat systems in other RPGs. They have made a game that caters to all round RPG fans, rather than a niche. But how is this appeal generated?

In Skyrim, the way your gameplay experience pans out is uncertain, with indeterminable results, meaning your investment in character may be for naught if you’ve selected incorrect skills and put points into stats that are irrelevant to your play-style. I am of course assuming you are playing Skyrim for the first time. It is from that point in Skyrim that you can easily create a new character and start the game over again. Again, this is an indication of the utter freedom available to the player in Skyrim. On top of that, with the advent of modding Skyrim is already receiving an abundance of attention from the modding community and in no time already has a few mods.

Skyrim is addictive because it benefits from encompassing six qualities of good videogame design. Jesper Juul (a well known Game Studies theorist) offers six such qualities including: (1) rules, (2) variable/quantifiable outcomes, (3) value assigned to possible outcomes, (4) player effort, (5) player attachment to outcome, and (6) negotiable consequences. Skyrim has many variable outcomes and the freedom of the player to exploit the rules however they see fit, means that the game has major flexibility without forcing the gamer to conform strictly to a set of rules. The rules are still there, but there are a variety of ways to counter the rules. For example, a guard in Skyrim may try and arrest you, yet you can just as easily kill him, run away, change your appearance and distract him with the sighting of a dragon. There are even more methods to mention and endless possibilities. But those are for you to find out as you explore a far off Druaga infested dungeon, battle a herd of mammoths, confront some bandits, and shoot a firebolt at a member of the Dark Brotherhood, or pickpocket some hapless victim.

Skyrim is addictive because it is free from strict impositions, and with the freedom to pursue your own fantasy the game attains a certain level of longevity. This is why so many people can spend months playing an Elder Scrolls game, and now with Skyrim I predict a couple years will go by with more additions to the game from prominent modders in the community, and Bethesda themselves. What I love about Skyrim is it allows me to take a peak of what may be on the horizon for other Bethesda games and what the future of open world RPGs may hold. But until the release of Fallout 4 we have some waiting to do. In the meantime, continue on forward with the quest of the Dovahkiin (Dragonborn). Oh, and be wary of giants.

Generally in your articles, academic rhetoric clouds the flow, resulting in excessively long sentences and making for a dense read. However, in this article you effectively fused academia and your creative writing style. A good read, interesting and well written.